


Home and Family

by ruby_shooting_stars



Series: Ten Short Stories [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Conflict of Interests, Cultural Differences, Fantasy, Gen, I tried? please read, Magical Creatures, Scars, Sea Monsters, What else um, villages
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2017-08-28
Packaged: 2018-12-20 18:55:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11927133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruby_shooting_stars/pseuds/ruby_shooting_stars
Summary: Courtney did not want to be missing the spring festival.Courtney wanted for this stupid monster to leave her life.Courtney did not want to spend any time with this stupid village.Courtney happened to change.





	Home and Family

**Author's Note:**

> I tried? I really, really did, so please enjoy!

“And absolutely no one has seen the Magi around? No one?”

Everyone in the pub shook their head, and the government official plunked into her chair, crossing her arms and legs, clearly irritated. And she had reason to be. Not only did the leader of this fishing village, the “all powerful” Magi disappear for a whooping half year, he disappeared right when a sea monster decided to make it’s home in the lake the village relied on. Perfect timing on his part, for sure, he left  _ just _ in time to leave  _ all _ the work to Courtney. And it just so happened that it became a serious problem exactly before the spring festival. Courtney had to leave her family and friends behind  _ just _ to help this poor little village that the king, in her humble opinion, should stop trying to help.

Just great.

Courtney was now tapping her fingers on the old bar, biting her lip in thought. To get this done as soon as possible, she should honestly just kill the monster. That was the most obvious solution. However, it would take weeks until powerful enough allies came to this remote location. And most of them probably wouldn’t even bother. She could offer her personal services to them, but that probably wasn’t a powerful enough incentive to make them come to the village.

She’d have to use the village people, then. But would anyone be powerful enough to even scrape the monster? The monster was huge; it could eat the fishing ships in just a few bites, and then a few more. It’s fangs were sharp and strong enough to go through metal, and it scales didn’t budge in the face of arrows or spears, which were the only weapons the villagers had. She huffed.

She wasn’t paid enough for this.

The bartender, a kindly old man who looked like he’d seen no horrors in his life, leaned over the counter closer to official’s face. His bad odor spiked up Courtney’s temper tenfold, though she forced herself to quiet down.

She had to  _ use _ the villagers, not  _ scare _ them.

“If it helps, m’lady,” the man said, showing a few gaping holes in his mouth, “A friend of a friend is comin’ here soon. He’s part of the Zoology Society, yaknow, the ones that deal with dragons and the like.”

She blinked for a second, then started nodding slowly. “When will he come?”

His face screwed up. “He got called a fornigh’ ago, so with a journey of a week an’ a half… Maybe t’morrow or the day afta’?”

A small smile filled Courtney’s face. Maybe this could be over quicker than she believed. She could maybe even go to the festival.

 

No way could someone like  _ that _ tame a monster.

Oh, Joel looked tough alright. He had a wicked, three part scar across his cheek that was obviously from a claw, and he was bulky with spiky short hair and deep eyes. However, no more than a few seconds ago, Courtney watched him almost break into tears at a flower his nephew gave him. How could someone that worked with monsters be so soft?

The flower was near dead, too.

With very obvious disbelief and near disgust, Courtney stared at the man approaching her, who obviously didn’t mind her impolite gaze.

He stuck out his hand. “I’m Joel, of the first division in the Zoology Society,” he said, voice rough yet soft. He smiled gently. It wouldn’t look out of place on a maiden. “Lily here,” he said, patting his nephew’s shoulder, “Told me all about the gorgeous, light colored lady that wanted to help with the monster. Your hair and skin really  _ do _ gleam. I guess we’re working together now, eh?”

Courtney slowly shook his hand. “Pleasure,” she said, not bothering to introduce herself.

Joel didn’t seem surprised. “Let’s go see the little guy.” He walked off, but not after gently waving to Lily.

_ This is a joke, _ Courtney thought bitterly, but compliantly walking behind him.

 

When she met Joel, Courtney had no hope of coming home before the end of the spring festival. But now she did.

In their first expedition around the enormous lake, they had chanced upon the monster sleeping on the shore in a little hidden area of the lake. It’s neck was perfectly exposed to them, and it would be difficult for it to shimmy it’s way into the water without any legs. They were maybe sixty feet away from that thing, and it hadn’t budged. Jackpot.

She glanced over at the Zoologist, expecting a similar sort of glee on his face, yet she saw interest and concern.

“Well?” she said, and his head swiveled to focus on her, “Aren’t you happy we got a perfect chance?”

He looked confused, but before he could say anything, a voice behind them said, “Who are you people?”

They turned around, Joel faster with his lightning reflexes, and gazed upon a young girl, no older than ten. Though she looked very average, with a simple lilac dress and a single brown braid, she had a worn notebook in hand and a dagger in her belt. 

“Who are  _ you _ ?” Courtney shot back, though quietly, as though not to wake the beast.

“I asked you first,” the girl said stubbornly, her face turning sour.

Courtney sighed, though Joel smiled happily at the girl. “I’m Joel, and this is Courtney,” he said pleasantly. The girl’s expression cleared, and she looked back curiously into Joel’s kind eyes.

“Are you here to kill the monster?” she asked, with a bit more vigor on the word ‘kill’ than was socially acceptable for a kid.

Courtney nodded. “Of course,” she said with certainty, “It’s disturbing trade for many of the villages on the watershed, especially because this lake is a great place to fish.” Her voice was confident and happy to be in an area of her expertise. “If the monsters lives here any longer, it would hurt not only this village, but the whole kingdom as well.”

The girl nodded, and excited glint in her eyes. She stuck out her notebook. “I’ve been tracking this thing for five months; what it eats, what it does, and other stuff like that,” she said with mock authority. “Maybe you can use it!”

“Hold up a second,” Joel said, eyes in near terror, “We’re not killing the Agum.”

The girls blinked.

“What the hell do you mean?” Courtney exploded, “Of course we are! We have to, or else everyone will be in danger of the economy crashing!” She angrily gestured to the monster. “And we have a perfect opportunity for it!”

“Yeah!” the girl cried, “And you’re a Zoologist, right? Out of everybody, you could do it! It destroyed all of my dad’s ships!”

“But, it’s an Agum!” he said with hushed wonder, “They’re nearly extinct, and we have an order from the society to protect each instance of them.”

“Well,” Courtney said, drawing up to full height, flicking back her nearly white hair, “I have an order from the King to help this area of the kingdom, and the only way of doing that is by killing that… thing!”

Joel showed a spark of anger in his eyes, and with his bulky stature and scarred face… Well, it’s easy to say it wasn’t pleasant. He directed his hard gaze onto the girl, who quivered back. “Had this Agum ever hurt a human?”

The women were confused by this sudden change of topic, but the girl shook her head slowly.

“Had it destroyed ships more than once?”

Again, she shook her head.

“Hasn’t it been getting skinnier with each passing day?”

A nod, and very confused eyes from both of them.

Joel looked back at the Agum, eyes intent. “Agums are sea dwellers, and not made for lakes, as there’s not enough food,” he said, hushed. It had a sort of silencing effect on the rest of the world. “And they’re very intelligent. They can communicate with humans, and often do so, because it helps them survive in the wild to have the support of people. Hasn’t he come close to the village?”

A nod. “Everyone was scared of it.”

He nodded, not surprised. “We need to send this little guy out to sea. He probably had no idea where to go, and this one is young. Someone probably stole an egg and hatched it here, not knowing what it would do. If we told him where the river entrance was...”

“But,” Courtney interrupted, “Seeing a monster like this would terrify the villages along the way to the ocean. There’s at least, what, twenty villages, ranging from big to small, all along this river.”

He looked back at them and smiled gently. “It helps when you have a Zoologist along its journey.”

Courtney’s eyes widened in shock. “You’re gonna travel with the… Agum, all the way to the sea?”

He nodded, a little excited. The little girl was very lost in the conversation at this point.

“But,” Courtney said, slowly and softly, “Even on horseback, it would take nearly three months to get to the sea! You would miss not only the spring festival, but the summer festival as well!”

He smiled. “Of course, it’s a given.”

“Won’t you miss your family?”

He looked at the Agum warmly. “The creatures of the world  _ are _ my family.”

 

Courtney stayed back at the village for a few more days, claiming that she had to see the mission through to it’s conclusion. However, she truly just wanted to watch Joel.

It never occurred to her that people could be like… well, like Joel. She had always lived in the city, quickly rised through government ranks, and never thought that people would be any different than the ones in the capital. It was a cultural shock to see Joel talk to the Agum, to see the sea monster react and cuddle with the man, and to see the true joy on the Zoologist’s face.

After a few days, with letters being sent out to main officials in the river villages, Joel saddled his horse and rode beside the swimming Agum. He had no epic ceremony for his sacrifice of time, nor official recognition for the good he did to both the people and the animal alike.

He did it for himself.

As Courtney saddled her glowing white horse to go back home, still in time to go to the end of the festival, her world seemed a whole lot bigger.

**Author's Note:**

> Criticism is something I LIVE for!!  
> If you have anything you noticed that felt off (grammar, weird wording, something off in the story, etc.) please don't hesitate to tell me! I'm looking to becoming a better author, so any help at all is super appreciated!!


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